The present invention relates to an apparatus for printing machines. More specifically, the invention relates to a fastener for a printing machine.
The features of the present invention are useful for any machine which requires joining of mechanical components, for example, printing machines such as electrophotographic printing machines.
In the process of electrophotographic printing, a photoconductive surface is charged to a substantially uniform potential. The photoconductive surface is image wise exposed to record an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the informational areas of an original document being reproduced. This records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive surface corresponding to the informational areas contained within the original document. Thereafter, a marking material such as toner particles is transported into contact with the electrostatic latent image in a region known as the development zone. Toner particles are attracted from the magnetic roller to the latent image. The resultant toner powder image is then transferred from the photoconductive surface to a copy sheet and permanently affixed thereto. The foregoing generally describes a typical mono-color single component development electrophotographic copying machine.
Machines and mechanical assemblies consist of a plurality of components that must interact and be interconnected. Fasteners are used to secure the components to each other. The use of fasteners represents several problems. The first of these problems is that fasteners add to the cost of the mechanism or machine. Further, the fastener itself may represent a component which may fail or wear causing the machine to not operate properly. Further, the use of fasteners requires manufacturing time to install the fasteners to interconnect the components during assembly of the machines and further the removal of the fasteners represents a cost associated with remanufacturing the machines.
Recently to conserve natural resources and provide for machine with improved features and more reliable newer technology, machinery is now often remanufactured. The remanufacture of machinery requires that the components often be disassembled. The need for disassembly necessitates the need to remove fasteners. The time to remove fasteners may be a significant issue in the remanufacturing cost.
Components have typically been joined together with the use of fasteners in the form of welding, rivets or screws. Rivets require the use of special machinery to assemble, may become loose and rattle during use and are difficult and expensive to remove for remanufacturing. Screws have disadvantages in that they require a significant amount of assembly time, may become loose during use and may become very time consuming to remove.
Attempts have been made to find fasteners which may be more quickly assembled and disassembled for remanufacturing. For example, one type of connector utilized to reduce assembly and disassembly time is a bayonet connector. The bayonet connector includes protrusions which match with slots on the components to be assembled. Protrusions on the bayonet connector interconnect with slots upon the insertion and rotation of the bayonet connector. Such type of bayonet connectors are expensive and provide for a weak connection between the protrusions and slots thereby having limited life and may only be used where the connecting forces are not large.
The following disclosures may be relevant to various aspects of the present invention: